The Leader as Communicator

Assignment 1: Discussion—The Leader As Communicator

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Assignment 1: Discussion—The Leader As Communicator

It is true that effective communication is an important skill that a leader must have. Without effective communication, it becomes almost impossible for leaders to address to different challenges, such as conflicts among employees, which are very common in many organizations. In an organization where the top leadership understands and practices effective communication, employees feel encouraged to better their performances and are less involved in activities that are likely to cause disagreements (Morrill, 2010). The next sections discuss important communication competencies for leaders, different types of communication and their significance, and leadership strategies for improving communication skills.

Key communication competencies

The key communication competencies needed by today’s leaders include the following. To start with, Brown (2011) asserts that the ability to make good decision is an important competency that a leader must possess. Since there are worse and better ways of making decisions, a leader must be in a position to know when to make a given decision, when to consult, and whether organizational members should be involved during the decision making process. Secondly, a leader should have excellent influence skills. Leadership involves influencing others meaning that a leader must wield power fairly and effectively. Other important competencies include conflict management and interpersonal skills.

Individual communication and group communication

In simple terms, individual communication is a type of communication involving two people. On the other hand, group/mass communication involves more than two people (Morrill, 2010). In my opinion, individual communication is much more important than group communication. Unlike in a group communication, there are minimal interruptions in individual communication meaning that the parties involved get to comprehend and respond accurately to the message being passed across.

Improving individual communication skills

Leaders can improve their individual communication skills in many ways that include being good listeners, encouraging feedback, using inspirational communication tactics, and being a supportive communicator. In my opinion, being a good listener is the most important method because other people develop a feeling that the leader recognizes the value of the information being communicated. A leader should not disrupt a speaker during the communication process. Instead, a speaker should be allowed to communicate before making any respond.

References

Morrill, R. L. (2010). Strategic leadership: Integrating strategy and leadership in colleges and universities. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Brown, J. F. (2011). The skills system instructor’s guide: An emotion-regulation skills curriculum for all learning abilities. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, Inc.